Antiperspirants and deodorants are popular personal care products used to prevent or eliminate perspiration and body odor caused by perspiration. Antiperspirants typically prevent the secretion of perspiration by blocking or plugging sweat-secreting glands, such as those located at the underarms. Deodorants counteract or mask the unwanted odors caused by bacterial flora in secreted sweat.
Antiperspirant sticks are desired by a large majority of the population because of the presence of antiperspirant active compounds that block or prevent the secretion of perspiration and the accompanying odors thereof and because of their ease of application. The antiperspirant product is applied to the skin by swiping or rubbing the stick across the skin, typically of the underarm. However, antiperspirant users often are disappointed in the chalky, brittle, and/or crumbly application of the stick across the skin. Deodorants, on the other hand, typically provide a better “glide” and an evenness of the coverage of the deodorant product across the underarm skin. The term “glide” typically is used to denote the friction between the antiperspirant and/or deodorant product and the skin. The smoother the glide, or the less friction between the product and the skin, the more desirable the product to users. While deodorants typically exhibit smoother glide than antiperspirant sticks, they do not prevent or minimize the secretion of perspiration as do antiperspirants because they do not contain active antiperspirant compounds. Active antiperspirant compounds generally cannot be added to deodorants because the alkalinity of the deodorants cause the antiperspirant compounds, typically acidic, to precipitate or settle out of deodorants. Thus, there is a need for antiperspirant products that exhibit antiperspirant efficacy with the feel of deodorants.
Men typically desire harder stick antiperspirant products with lower payout, while women typically desire softer stick antiperspirant products with higher payout. Payout is the amount of antiperspirant product, usually measured in grams weight, transferred per swipe during application. In general, men prefer to apply antiperspirant products by using more pressure and multiple swipes while women prefer to apply antiperspirant products using less pressure and fewer swipes, e.g., a single swipe. Unfortunately, many antiperspirant products when applied leave behind an undesirable color residue that is typically white. By applying more pressure to harder stick antiperspirant products and using multiple swipes during application, the amount of color residue left behind can substantially increased. Alternatively, by using softer stick antiperspirant products that have higher payout, the amount of color residue left behind can also be substantial. Thus, there is a need for both relatively hard and soft stick antiperspirant products that leave behind less color residue and provide an evenness of the coverage.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide antiperspirant products that exhibit antiperspirant efficacy with the application characteristic and feel of deodorants. It is also desirable to provide relatively hard and soft stick antiperspirant products with corresponding relatively low and high payouts that leave behind less color residue and provide an evenness of the coverage. In addition, it is desirable to provide processes for making such antiperspirant products. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.